PRELIMINARY PLANNING

PRELIMINARY PLAN


This is our preliminary storyboard, in which we will use one of the scenes from our music video to film. We have chose a scene in which grasps the nature of our idea and displays the character used in our video as much it can be, this will lead to us getting more useful feedback as there is a lot of content to analyse.

STORYBOARD

STORYBOARD FOR MUSIC VIDEO

EQUIPMENT

Equipment Needed

• Sofa
• TV
• Table
• Plate with half eaten pieces of toast
• Belt
• Blanket
• Empty beer cans
• Half empty bottle of vodka
• Tobacco
• Rolling papers
• Necklace with a cross
• Bible
• Alarm clock
• Baby Doll

LOCATION

Location

This is the main characters house in which many scenes will be shot, for example when the main character leaves his house to go and meet with his friends. 

                                 

This is the room where the main characters mother is seen to be sleeping in the morning and also where she overdoses and passes away on the floor. 

                                 

This location is within the house, this is the main characters bedroom, this corner in particular will play part in our video.  When the main character finds out his mother has overdosed and passed away, he then runs up into his room slamming his door then curling up into this corner where he has flashbacks of him and his mother in the past.

This stretch of road is located on 'Thorold Road' we will use this location to film when the boy runs outside his house after his mother overdoses, we will try to film the boy running on the road as this road is not a main road, however this could be difficult as although it is not a main road, cars are normally traveling up and down this road quite regularly therefore if this is the case we can still film on the sidewalk. This road will also be where the boy comes across the cross necklace found on the sidewalk/road.

This church is located on Thorold Road, this church will play a big part in our music video, a scene where the church is used is when the boy comes across the cross necklace and has a flashback of him and his mother walking towards this very church.

This location is known as 'Riverside Park', this location In particular will host in the scene where the main character walks into a park and walks down a stretch of pathway when he comes across a bench.

This is the bench which will be in the final scenes, the priest will be sat on this bench reading a bible when the boy comes up to him and seeks for help/guidance.

Audience Feedback of location

''Very good choices of location, however you should use more urban areas as your song choice has quite an urban vibe to it''

'' I like your locations a lot, and they fit well with the idea of the music video''

'' You should use a more traditional church I think''

'' There are a lot of forest areas being used, your group should use more urban areas especially the town center where there are more high streets''


The location planning was delegated to Gurminder (member of the group) this shows some of the locations in which some of our scenes will be shot. From the audience feedback I feel that it is very beneficial for us, to consider it and certainly use more urban areas. 

ACTORS, COSTUMES AND PROPS

A SCRIPT IS NOT NEEDED AS A MUSIC VIDEO CONTAINS LYRICS.

Actors and Costumes

The main actor is named Gomez and will be played by myself, he will be dressed very urban and hip. The reason for this is because he is going to represent the common type of audience who listens to Deep House. Not only are we representing a target audience we are also representing ourselves as we are apart of this target audience.

Items of clothing that the character will be wearing are:

• Snapback Hat
• Black jeans
• Black hooded sweatshirt
• Air Max 1's trainers

Below is an image of the attire I will be wearing

Our video will include a short scene in which a priest is included, he will be dressed in:

• Long black garment 
• Blazer
• Clerical collar
• Black shoes

This piece of garment will be purchased from EBAY, to ensure we have a realistic costume to use in order for the audience to be aware that the actor is representing a priest.


The rest of the actors within our film will be dressed casually, but more to the urban side of fashion wear. 

Props

• Baby doll wrapped in blanket ( flashbacks are going to be included into our video which will show the main character as a baby)

FILM SCHEDULE

Film schedule

This role was delegated to Chantelle (member of our group), she has devised a film plan in which we will abide by when constructing our music video. It includes the description of each scene we are filming, and shows what props and costumes we will be using. The film schedule also displays what characters are included in each scene and what equipment we will be using in order to create our scene. Following a film schedule will allow us to be more organised, and achieve a greater end product.

NAME AND FONT

Name of Music Video

The name of our music video is called Benediction, this is due to the reason that the song we are using for the music video is by the group Hot Natured and is called Benediction. So we are going to use the same name, however the main reason for this is because the meaning of the word 'Benediction' is a prayer asking for divine blessing, so our video is going to include religious ideas which revolve around a character who is looking for the right path.

Font

This font is being considered for our music video as it is quite simple yet very effective, also we feel that using this font will allow more focus to be on the music video.
         



The Planet Benson font is one in which we are going to consider for our music video, this is because it provides an urban feel to it and our video will be taken place in an urban environment. 

Blackout Sunrise is a font which we find is very edgy and cool and may fit in very well into our ancillary tasks, also it is a font that we find is very serious and professional but also urban.

Audience Feedback

We conducted a small audience research task in which we asked 3 of our friends about which font they would find, that would be the most appropriate for our music video. 

George
'' I think Blackout Sunrise is by far the best font you could use for the video out of the 3, because it looks more appealing''

Sanjay
''Blackout Sunrise is the nicest font there and it will fit in well with your video I think''

Sam
''The planet benson font is really cool and unusual and is different to other fonts, i think you should use it because its different to other fonts''

The font we feel that is our favourite is 'Dolce Vita' we really liked this style because it is very simple and minimalist, yet still cool and attractive. Which fits into the theme we are going for,also a font that is too funky or jazzy can distract audiences from viewing our products and distract them from our theme of minimalism. 

COPYRIGHT LETTER

Copyright Letter

Below is a copyright letter which was created to send to the manager of the record label 'Hot Creations'. The reason we had to send this letter is because the song 'Benediction' is the intellectual property of the group 'Hot Natured' and is under copyright. So we are assuring the record label that we are not making any intentions to financially benefit from creating a music video for the song. 

Dear Copyright Holder,

I am studying A Level Media Studies at college and for our project we are creating a music video for the song Benediction by Hot Natured, this is solely for education purposes only. 

I would like to ask for your permission to go ahead with creating the music video for this song. This will allow us to film the ideas that we have created to match the song, and provide an inspirational video which we feel, will highly benefit the individuals who view it, who will be students of the class. If permission to use Benediction is granted all copyrights will be fully declared to the owners of the track and will not be screened to public audiences.

We will include the copyright notice if supplied by you in our video, I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Yours faithfully,

Isa Rehman, Student at Bitterne Park Sixth Form, 1 Copsewood Rd, Southampton, SO18 1BU.

SUMMARY OF OUR CODES AND CONVENTIONS

CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF OUR MUSIC VIDEO

Our music video will certainly not be the typical Deep House video as it breaks certain common codes and conventions, that audiences might see on television. This is due to the fact, the overall meaning to our video is very serious and will be created to provide an inspirational feel to it. Commonly, Deep House videos do not provide serious meaning and tend to stray away from the meaning of the lyrics. This is apparent in Oliver Heldens video for Gecko (overdrive), which is a experimental video with small substance and no correlation to the lyrics. In this video

Usually deep house videos happen to be created in an alternate setting with little or no relation to reality, and real life meaning. However, even though this is common in certain deep house videos these alternate realities are usually double entendres or metaphors for real worlds scenarios. Furthermore, the music video our group will be creating will include a real life setting with meanings that are included in reality, we are creating it to serve a purpose and create an inspirational feel to it. Our video does not include the common code and conventions that are included in main stream deep house videos such as clubbing, drinking and strobe lights, However so many Deep House videos that are being released in this generation tend to stray away from this idea and are turning towards inspirational type videos, one video that does this is Prayer in C by Lilly Wood (Robin Schulz remix).

Ultimately, this video depicts the idea of tribe wired and Fun/ antics groups within the lifestyle matrix, this is due to the reason that these groups in the lifestyle matrix show individuals to be happy, outgoing, crazy also to be funny and creative which is clearly seen in the video. Furthermore, this is also apparent through our target audience research that tribe wired and fun/antics people are the main section of the Deep House target audience, hence significantly relates. The use of the lyrics ''Our world is slowly dying'' and ''When men will be no more... there will be silence'' the singer is definitely questioning religion and the future of the world, which is very similar to the video we look to create. I feel this video brings out the hard edge of drinking/youth/ partying and dance with the concept of religion, and in fact this way of living could actually be the religion itself of which the demographics of the house music genre follow which is the youth. Also you can see there is a lot of individuals with in the music video that are wearing masks or have their face painted. This could show that the youth are creating this alter ego in order to get away from their normal lives and live this life of having fun and know no limits, which is in essence similar to the idea of going to the club to see a DJ perform, once you are in that environment you are away from reality then once it is finished you are back to normal. 

ANALYSIS OF LYRICS

Lyrics and analysis

Hey! Feel it coming on
I waited for so long!
Feel it come my way
Each and every day
By the time I put on my shoes
Already have the groove
Benediction in the morning time

Everybody riding on, and on

On and on, keep on riding on
On and on, keep on riding on
On and on, keep on riding on

Feel it coming on 
I waited for so long!
Feel it come my way, yeah
Each and every day
Cause it's nothing that I can do
Feeling true!
Benediction in the morning time
Everybody riding on, and on

On and on, keep on riding on
On and on, keep on riding on
On and on, keep on riding on
On and on, keep on riding on
On and on, keep on riding on
On and on, keep on riding on

I feel like our love has found a home
Feel like my love, feel like my love has found a home
In this place I know that I belong!
Feel like my love, feel like my love has found a home
I feel like our love has found a hole
Benediction in my mind, benediction in my heart and soul!
Benediction in my mind, benediction in my heart and soul!

I feel like our love has found a hole
Feel like my love, feel like my love has found a home
In this place I know that I belong!
Feel like my love, feel like my love has found a home
I feel like our love has found a home
Benediction in my mind, benediction in my heart and soul!
I feel like our love has found a home
Feel like my love, feel like my love has found a home
In this place I know that I belong!
Feel like my love, feel like my love has found a home
I feel like our love has found a home
Benediction in my mind, benediction in my heart and soul!
(I feel like our love has found a home)
Benediction in my mind, benediction in my heart and soul!
(I feel like our love has found a home) yeah!

Analysis of Lyrics

This song is basically expressing success, happiness and love. 'By the time I put on my shoes I already have the groove' is stating the fact that the singer is happy and dancing because they have the groove possibly due to feeling blessed. When the singer mentions 'benediction in the morning time' they mean they are waking up feeling blessed as the word benediction is like a blessing. Furthermore, the idea that the lyrics could be a metaphor for love is also something I feel is apparent, the singer says 'I feel like our love has found a hole, feel like my love has found a home' the reason I feel this is a metaphor is because Benediction means an utterance of a blessing and this could be connected to the idea that the singer has found their true love partner and is feeling blessed because they are in love. We already know that benediction means a blessing, but In the lyrics you can see that benediction in this instance could actually be referred to as a female, and the singer is so in love with this girl he refers to her as a benediction. This girl is on his mind, is in his heart and is also in his soul, possibly referring to her as a soul partner. 

SYNOPSIS

Synopsis for Music Video

Our music video is about a troubled boy searching for himself, the opening scene includes the boy waking up in the morning and getting ready, his mother is also a drug addict and she is seen asleep on the sofa with alcohol and drugs on the table beside her. The boy leaves the house and meets up with his friends on the street corner, where they begin to smoke drugs and be anti social. 

The soul purpose of our music video is to show individuals that they are not alone going through this phase in life where they are lost and have turned to drugs. The troubled boy has seen his mother going through her life with heavy use of drugs and alcohol and he has adapted the same thing. 

Until one day his mother overdoses, this is when the boy begins to see flashbacks of the good times him and his mum used to have, when his mother was religious and they used to go church together. This really strikes the boy he is seen extremely angry shutting himself in the room and scrunched up in the corner, he then runs out the front door and continues to run and he begins to realise that he shouldn't be living his life how he is. So as he comes to the realisation he begins to venture, looking for a meaning to his life and this is where he finds religion, as he is walking on the street corner he finds a necklace with a cross on it, at this point flashbacks of him with his mother when he was a baby occur once again, and then looks up into the sky. This then leads onto the boy walking through the park and noticing a priest sat down on the bench reading a bible. The boy approaches him and is seen begging down to him asking for help this is when the priest stands up and hugs him, the camera then tilts to view the sun and the music video ends.

REASON FOR OUR IDEA

REASON BEHIND OUR IDEA AND IDEOLOGY

We will be using the song Hot Natured - Benediction, the whole purpose of our music video is the idea of the main character actually working towards achieving a benediction which is the utterance of a blessing usually performed at churches,We thought that taking the name of the song and its actual meaning and implementing it into the video would be a good idea.. We will be following the life of the main character and how the loss of his mother and heavy drug use has lead him into finding god.


It is apparent that we will break the common codes and conventions of Deep House music videos, however dancing may be included within our video. 

BBFC

BBFC 

The British Board of Film Classification is a non-governmental body which has been classifying cinema films since the year 1912 when it was first set up. It is important that the BBFC classification standards are in line with what is expected with a deep house music video. 

The music video that we will be creating will include some of the following:

• Drug taking
• Discriminatory language and behaviour
• Strong violence

This is a reason why we feel we may have to class our music video as a 15, Mainly due to the reason drug taking is included and the character is shown to be enjoying it. At 15 drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse (for example, through instructional detail).The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances like aerosols or solvents is unlikely to be acceptable at 15. 

Video Recordings act 1984

Under the Video Recordings Act 1984, some video content does not need to be rated by the BBFC. It is mentioned by the BBFC that under the Video Recordings Act 1984, that they assign ratings to all video works created in the UK apart from projects that are created to educate, instruct or inform and projects that are concerned with sport,religion or music. Our product falls under this category. However, the exemption for our video will be lost as it may:

• Promote violence or threats of violence
• It depicts or promotes the use of alcohol and tobacco
• It includes swearing

OFCOM

https://themediaclass.wordpress.com/2011/10/02/ofcom-regulates-explicit-videos/

This website explains the guidelines of the regulation of music videos, and it states that OFCOM are becoming more stricter on the enforcement of watershed rules of sexually explicit videos. The new guidelines came into action mainly due to the X Factor performance in 2011 of Rihanna and Christina Aguilera, which recieved 4500 complaints due to its raunchy nature.

OFCOM also have the support and backing from the government, in which they published a report in the summer. Involved was the Mothers’ Union chief executive, Reg Bailey, which called for tighter control of sexualised imagery including raunchy music videos.

TARGET AUDIENCE

TARGET AUDIENCE

Our target audience?

Our target audience is aimed at Males and Females aged between 18 - 30. These people would obviously be interested in the Deep house music genre. The music video we are creating is based on love, religion, spirituality, evil and good we will try to implement all of this into the video. The reason it is aimed at Males and Females between the age of 18 - 30 is that this kind of age group associate themselves with events such as clubbing, house parties, these events generally play deep house.

Below is a picture of a typical audience for a rave in which Deep House music is being played, the image is about being young, wild and free and having a great time this is apparent when looking at the picture.As you can see from the photo most people that listen to Deep House and rave to it are most commonly youths, and individuals with a unique style and etiquette. 

In this day and age Deep house has become very mainstream and a lot of our society listens to it, where as initially it was quite a niche category of music, so it would be easy sectioning out the target audience but now it is very difficult due to all types of people listening. However, even though there may now be a greater audience, typically these audiences share the same attitudes.






Psychographics

So my demographic of people is males and females aged 18 - 30, the type of people that fit into this category are classed as ABC1 category where as individuals who would typically listen to Hip-Hop/Rnb are in the C2DE category. With every genre of music there includes individuals who just listen to the music because everyone else does, and there are individuals who listen to the music to try and fit in with the crowd, and then there's those individuals who are avid fans of the music genre. This relates to the Deep House genre, because of its big impact into the mainstream scene.There are certain groups of people which relate to the Cross- Cultural Consumer Characteristics, and thats the Mainstreamers, Aspirers, Succeeders and Reformers, when looking at the Deep House genre it is full of Succeeders. This is because individuals that follow the Deep house genre mainly use their image to reinforce their feelings and power.

Questionnaire

Graphs


From this pie chart you can see that the most common age group within the participants of my questionnaire is 17 year old. The least common age group are 16 and 19+. We targeted a specific age bracket due to the narrative of our music video, this is because the partying lifestyle is included which we feel is more appropriate for this age group.





From this pie chart you can see that the genders are pretty much equally balanced this is purposeful, due to the fact that our music video is more aimed at a specific attitude and lifestyle rather than a certain gender.




This graph suggests that the participants in our questionnaire are very diverse, in reference to the lifestyle matrix certain groups that are included in our questionnaire these are Tribe wired (Happy, outgoing, crazy, creative) and Fun/atics (funny, crazy, creative). However, there are a few anomalous results which included participants saying they were indecisive and flawless.





This graph shows that the participants within our questionnaire are mostly Deep House fans, as it was done randomly this shows that Deep House is quite a well liked music genre, meaning that the tribe wired and fun/antics people have a correlation to the deep house genre.

This graph shows that dancing has a big influence on the Deep House music genre and its music videos, automatically the participants who even dislike the genre feel this way, showing that although they are not fans they are aware dancing is heavily associated with Deep House.





Romance is a very key factor with in the deep house genre, as a high percentage of the music videos in the genre include romance, However this graph suggests that even though more participants said 'Yes' a little less than half said 'No' showing that people have mixed opinions on whether it should be included or not.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS

Genre - Codes and Conventions

House music is a type of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois in the 1980's. Early house music was generally dance based music characterized by repetitive 4/4 beats and rhythms revolving around drum machines, and synthesized baselines with use of hi hat cymbals. There are around 30 different categories of house music with one of those being Deep House.

Our genre is Deep House, common codes and conventions within this genre include clubbing, dancing and having a good time. Deep House mostly promotes positive vibes, however occasionally it includes consciousness and real life meanings away from clubbing/dancing. The music videos usually contain certain recognisable conventions. for example, they contain a lot of romantic themes, glamourising romantic relationships and raving scenes for a great deal of lighting. 

The music video below is a song that is produced by MK a DJ that makes deep house music,  you can see within the video that it includes the common codes and conventions of the genre such as dancing and having a good time, however it is very unique in the aspect that it is not set in a nightclub or a party. In terms of the image of the characters involved in the video they are dressed in streetstyle in urban areas which include items such as bucket hats, hoodies patterned sweatshirts/T-shirts, nike/puma/adidas sneakers etc.I feel as the characters are dressed in these items of clothing because it represents the youth culture of today, which links to the genre of music as a lot of youths in this generation listen to Deep House.

In terms of the camera work there is no particular camera shot or angles which actually link to the Deep House genre, however parts of this music video was a one take in an actual setting when the characters are dancing on the train. This could link to the idea of being a DJ because they only have one chance to not make any mistakes as they play towards a live crowd in nightclubs and music events.


There has been an extremely recurring theme in the deep house videos being released in this day and age, and that is the fact that it moves away from the common stereotype of clubbing and parties and adapts a more experimental and unique music video narrative. This is seen through the examples below:

This video by Duke Dumont breaks the typical conventions of Deep House videos, romance is significantly reduced through this video, where as other Deep House videos contain a great deal of romance. Even so, women are still within this video for males to gaze and lust. Dancing is apparent in the video which is common for deep house videos, however the narrative in this video is very surreal an example of this is when the main character has a boom box lodged into their stomach. The editing also fits the pace of the song, so the video makes a lot more sense.

Secondcity's video for 'I Wanna Feel' also breaks the common conventions of Deep House videos although it contains a significant amount of dancing, flashing lights and disco balls it is still set in a very different surroundings including the desert, gas stations and a barber shop. The reason it breaks common conventions is due to the fact the narrative of the video is an old man on a moving vehicle which holds a boom box and flashing lights, this is a very surreal thing to be contained in a deep house video.

Deep house videos usually have a set of recognizable conventions, it is usually very uncommon for the videos to be performance based they tend to be consisting of a more conceptual, abstract and artistic idea and tend to have no direct correlation to the actual lyrics and meaning of the song. The artists that have created the track usually don't feature in the videos themselves and usually lip syncing does not occur, However when you look at Kiesza's video for Hideaway this breaks the common code and convention as she is the main focus in the video and lip syncs the words.

This video by Kiesza is also a in one take, which yet again illustrates the idea of being a DJ, as you are on the spot and only have one chance not to make any mistakes. It also shows culture,style,fashion, love and dancing which are all big influences in the house music genre. However, something in this video that challenges usual forms and conventions is that the female has the power in this video and is the leader, when usually females do not usually hold the main role or power in most house music videos.




Camera work and editing

When viewing music videos made specifically for house music, you can clearly see that camera work is a very big factor in creating a certain vibe the audience may feel. Typically a house video that that is created for a fast paced song usually includes quick editing e.g. fast straight cuts and jump cuts. A more down tempo house song will include slower paced editing to fit the atmosphere that the song creates. Medium/long shots are often used in order to establish a relationship between 2 characters, usually showing their romance for each other.


The Underground scene

So far I have mentioned deep house mostly in its place within mainstream culture, However like the majority of music in this day and age it also includes an underground scene. What I mean by underground scene is that music which is not topping charts and not recognised by most of the population. The audiences who listen to Deep House in its underground and less recognised form tend to be more passionate about the music and really appreciate it, usually making it part of their life and researching the latest music and getting to know the DJ's who make the music.

Individuals who listen to Deep House in the chart list will not have a great understanding of the genre and are no way near as passionate about the music compared to individuals who go into the deep abyss of the genre. These audiences who are passionate about Deep House usually express their passion by attending DJ sets at venues such as nightclubs or festivals. There are also nightclubs which strictly only play house music and only open when DJ's come to perform.


Mixmag is a Dance music and clubbing magazine which posts information about upcoming events and performances a DJ is going to make, it also creates information to provide its fans with news about the genre etc. Something that is great about MixMag is that in their offices they have created a venue called the MixMag Lab which DJ's come every week to perform to the staff that work there they also send out invitations to individuals to attend. This gives us an example of an underground scene,because only people who are invited can see the DJ perform so they tend to be passionate fans of the music. Below is a performance by Hot Creations artists at the MixMag lab.

Boiler Room is a music project created especially to provide underground music, they host live music sessions with an invite only audience in private locations across the world, streaming the performances live on the Boiler Room website and through video streaming services such as Youtube and Dailymotion. Deep House DJ's always perform at the Boiler Room providing their passionate fans with performances, new mixes and new tunes. Below is a performance by a deep house DJ at Boiler Room.

So altogether, away from the mainstream scene you can really see extreme diversity from mainstream and underground, However most of these DJ's may not promote their music to a wider target audience as they feel their passion is meant to be underground. Not a lot of music videos are created by certain DJ's, So I am unable to comment on the codes and conventions of the music videos however the underground scene does include common codes and conventions, as it takes place mostly in a club, and includes people who are having a great time dancing, drinking and socialising and there is always a DJ playing and mixing the tracks on the decks.